It's got to be serious if the New York Times

如果紐約時報在二月17日的週刊上，

puts a cover story of their February 17th Sunday magazine about play.

以封面故事來報導玩這件事，那一定是很嚴肅的事。

At the bottom of this, it says, "It's deeper than gender.

封面底部寫上：「比性別更深奧，

Seriously, but dangerously fun.

玩得認真又危險！

And a sandbox for new ideas about evolution."

沙堆是產生演化論新點子的好地點！」

Not bad, except if you look at that cover, what's missing?

還不錯吧？但看看那封面，少了什麼？

You see any adults?

有看到大人嗎？

Well, lets go back to the 15th century.

我們來看看15世紀，

This is a courtyard in Europe,

這是那時歐洲的一個庭院，

and a mixture of 124 different kinds of play.

這張畫裡包含了124種不同的遊戲，

All ages, solo play, body play, games, taunting.

各種年齡的人都有，有一個人玩的遊戲，也有肢體遊戲，

And there it is. And I think this is a typical picture

各種遊戲都有，我認為這張畫

of what it was like in a courtyard then.

代表了當時典型的庭院生活。

I think we may have lost something in our culture.

我們似乎在文化裡遺漏了什麼，

So I'm gonna take you through

所以我要告訴各位，

what I think is a remarkable sequence.

這樣會有什麼後果。

North of Churchill, Manitoba, in October and November,

在10月或11月時，丘契爾北部的曼尼托巴，

there's no ice on Hudson Bay.

沿著哈德遜灣是看不到結冰景象的，

And this polar bear that you see, this 1200-pound male,

但你卻看到這隻北極熊，一隻550公斤重的公熊，

he's wild and fairly hungry.

在野外飢餓地覓食。

And Norbert Rosing, a German photographer,

一位德國的攝影師諾伯特．羅星剛好在那裡，

is there on scene, making a series of photos of these huskies, who are tethered.

他正在為拴在那裡的一群哈士奇犬拍照，

And from out of stage left comes this wild, male polar bear,

接著在左側他就看到了那隻野地裡的公北極熊，

with a predatory gaze.

正對他投以掠食者的眼神。

Any of you who've been to Africa or had a junkyard dog come after you,

你們如果有人去過非洲，或是在垃圾場遇過狗在追你，

there is a fixed kind of predatory gaze

你就會知道看到那種掠食者的眼神時，

that you know you're in trouble.

你的麻煩就大了！

But on the other side of that predatory gaze

但在另一邊，

is a female husky in a play bow, wagging her tail.

有隻母哈士奇正在玩耍，搖著她的尾巴，

And something very unusual happens.

這時竟發生了一件很不尋常的事，

That fixed behavior -- which is rigid and stereotyped

原先已經定型為掠食的行為，

and ends up with a meal -- changes.

應該是要飽餐一頓的，沒想到竟然改變了！

And this polar bear

這隻北極熊

stands over the husky,

竟然站在這隻哈士奇旁邊，

no claws extended, no fangs taking a look.

沒伸出利爪，也沒露出尖牙，

And they begin an incredible ballet.

二隻動物竟不可思議地玩了起來，

A play ballet.

就是在玩！

This is in nature: it overrides a carnivorous nature

這很不自然：這種行為違反了肉食動物的本性，

and what otherwise would have been a short fight to the death.

北極熊本來可以輕鬆地就將哈士奇咬死才對。

And if you'll begin to look closely at the husky that's bearing her throat to the polar bear,

如果你看仔細一點，你會看到哈士奇靠北極熊很近，

and look a little more closely, they're in an altered state.

再仔細看下去，你會發現他們的關係改變了，

They're in a state of play.

他們竟然在一起玩！

And it's that state

這二隻動物

that allows these two creatures to explore the possible.

正在探索彼此關係可能的發展，

They are beginning to do something that neither would have done

如果不是在玩耍，這二隻動物

without the play signals.

根本不可能這樣相處在一起。

And it is a marvelous example

這真的是一個神奇的例子，

of how a differential in power

讓我們見識到凶猛的北極熊，

can be overridden by a process of nature that's within all of us.

竟能被你我心中都有的天性所馴服。

Now how did I get involved in this?

我為什麼會來研究這個呢？

John mentioned that I've done some work with murderers, and I have.

約翰剛才提到我曾參與某些謀殺案的調查，沒錯，

The Texas Tower murderer opened my eyes,

德州大學校園槍擊案真是讓我大開眼界，

in retrospect, when we studied his tragic mass murder,

回想起來，當我們研究兇手所犯下的滔天大罪，

to the importance of play,

我們發現了玩耍的重要性，

in that that individual, by deep study,

因為我們深入研究後，

was found to have severe play deprivation.

發現兇手曾被嚴重地剝奪玩耍的權利。

Charles Whitman was his name.

兇手叫做查爾斯．惠特曼。

And our committee, which consisted of a lot of hard scientists,

在我們的委員會裡，有許多實力堅強的科學家，

did feel at the end of that study

他們在研究過後都覺得，

that the absence of play and a progressive suppression of developmentally normal play

兇手缺乏玩耍的經驗，成長過程中正常的玩耍也被壓抑，

led him to be more vulnerable to the tragedy that he perpetrated.

導致他的心靈脆弱，並犯下如此滔天大罪。

And that finding has stood the test of time --

這個結論絕對禁得起時間的考驗，

unfortunately even into more recent times, at Virginia Tech.

因為不久前在維吉尼亞科技大學裡也發生了同樣的悲劇。

And other studies of populations at risk

而其他關於人口危機的研究，

sensitized me to the importance of play,

也讓我聯想到玩耍的重要性，

but I didn't really understand what it was.

但我卻不瞭解其真正內涵，

And it was many years in taking play histories of individuals

甚至在我研究了人類的玩耍歷史多年之後，

before I really began to recognize that I didn't really have a full understanding of it.

我才真正體認到我對於玩耍沒有一個全面性的瞭解。

And I don't think any of us has a full understanding of it, by any means.

我認為沒有人完全瞭解玩耍這件事，

But there are ways of looking at it

但我卻認為，

that I think can give you -- give us all a taxonomy, a way of thinking about it.

我們可以從不同角度來看待玩耍這件事，先從分類開始。

And this image is, for humans, the beginning point of play.

這張圖對人類來說，可說是玩耍的開始，

When that mother and infant lock eyes,

當母親與嬰兒四目相對，

and the infant's old enough to have a social smile,

當嬰兒大到足以發展出社交性質的微笑時，

what happens -- spontaneously -- is the eruption of joy on the part of the mother.

母親便不由自主地感受到極大的喜悅，

And she begins to babble and coo and smile, and so does the baby.

開始學嬰兒發出聲音，對嬰兒微笑，嬰兒也報以相同回應。

If we've got them wired up with an electroencephalogram,

如果我們為他們測量腦波，

the right brain of each of them becomes attuned,

會發現他們的右腦很活躍，

so that the joyful emergence of this earliest of play scenes

因此，這種最早的玩耍印象所帶來的喜悅，

and the physiology of that is something we're beginning to get a handle on.

以及對人身體的影響，就是我們所要研究的對象。

And I'd like you to think that every bit of more complex play

我希望各位能瞭解，每一次提高玩耍的難度，

builds on this base for us humans.

就是在為我們的人格奠下基礎。

And so now I'm going to take you through sort of a way of looking at play,

現在我要讓各位看看玩耍的各個種類，

but it's never just singularly one thing.

但每個種類絕對不是只有單一面向而已。

We're going to look at body play,

我們先來看肢體遊體，

which is a spontaneous desire to get ourselves out of gravity.

這是我們人類想要對抗地心引力的一種不由自主的渴望。

This is a mountain goat.

這是一隻山羊。

If you're having a bad day, try this:

如果你今天過得不是很好，試試這個：

jump up and down, wiggle around -- you're going to feel better.

跳上跳下，扭動一下，你就會覺得好過一點。

And you may feel like this character,

你或許會覺得自己像這隻山羊，

who is also just doing it for its own sake.

它做這些動作都只是為了自己，

It doesn't have a particular purpose, and that's what's great about play.

沒有什麼特別的目的，這就是玩耍最棒的一點。

If its purpose is more important

如果做這件事的目的

than the act of doing it, it's probably not play.

比這件事本身還要重要，那就算不上是玩耍。

And there's a whole other type of play, which is object play.

還有另一種型態的玩耍，就是玩玩具。

And this Japanese macaque has made a snowball,

這隻日本彌猴捏了一個雪球，

and he or she's going to roll down a hill.

她打算把雪球滾下山坡，

And -- they don't throw it at each other, but this is a fundamental part of being playful.

他們不會互相丟雪球，但這樣就是最基本的玩耍了。

The human hand, in manipulation of objects,

人類的手在操縱物品時，

is the hand in search of a brain;

手在尋求大腦的協助，

the brain is in search of a hand;

大腦也在指揮手的運作，

and play is the medium by which those two are linked in the best way.

而玩耍則是將此二者做最佳的連結。

JPL we heard this morning -- JPL is an incredible place.

我們早上聽到的噴射推進實驗室(JPL)是一個很棒的地方，

They have located two consultants,

他們有二位顧問，

Frank Wilson and Nate Johnson,

法蘭克．威爾森和內特．強森，

who are -- Frank Wilson is a neurologist, Nate Johnson is a mechanic.

法蘭克是一位神經學家，內特則是一位機械專家，

He taught mechanics in a high school in Long Beach,

他在長灘的某所高中教授機械學，

and found that his students were no longer able to solve problems.

但他發現，他的學生沒有能力解答問題，

And he tried to figure out why. And he came to the conclusion, quite on his own,

他想知道為什麼，最後他靠自己找到了答案，

that the students who could no longer solve problems, such as fixing cars,

他發現那些無法解答問題的學生，就連修車這種小事，

hadn't worked with their hands.

也都從來沒有親自動手做過。

Frank Wilson had written a book called "The Hand."

法蘭克曾寫了一本叫做《手》的書，

They got together -- JPL hired them.

他們二人發現彼此志同道合，因此JPL就僱用了他們

Now JPL, NASA and Boeing,

現在，JPL、美國太空總署(NASA)和波音公司，

before they will hire a research and development problem solver --

在他們僱用研發人員之前，

even if they're summa cum laude from Harvard or Cal Tech --

不管求職者是否為哈佛或加州理工學院的高材生，

if they haven't fixed cars, haven't done stuff with their hands early in life,

如果求職者沒有修過車，或沒有在他們年輕時親手做過些什麼，

played with their hands, they can't problem-solve as well.

也沒用雙手玩過些什麼遊戲，就會被視為無法勝任。

So play is practical, and it's very important.

玩耍是很實際的，也很重要。

Now one of the things about play is that it is born by curiosity and exploration. (Laughter)

玩耍是由好奇心與探索所組成的。(笑聲)

But it has to be safe exploration.

前提當然得是安全的探索才行。

This happens to be OK -- he's an anatomically interested little boy

這還好，他只是個對解剖學很感興趣的小男孩，

and that's his mom. Other situations wouldn't be quite so good.

那是他媽媽。其他情況就沒有那麼好了。

But curiosity, exploration, are part of the play scene.

好奇心、探索只是玩耍的一部分而已，

If you want to belong, you need social play.

如果你還想要有歸屬感，你還得參與社交性質的遊戲，

And social play is part of what we're about here today,

這類社交遊戲就有點像是我們今天聚在這裡一樣，

and is a byproduct of the play scene.

是遊戲的副產品。

Rough and tumble play.

粗魯打鬧的遊戲。

These lionesses, seen from a distance, looked like they were fighting.

看看這些獅子，從遠處看你會以為他們在打架，

But if you look closely, they're kind of like the polar bear and husky:

但你靠近一點看，就會發現他們有點像是北極熊和哈士奇玩耍一般，

no claws, flat fur, soft eyes,

沒有銳利的爪子、毛皮柔順、眼神溫馴、

open mouth with no fangs, balletic movements,

嘴巴張開卻不露出尖牙，彼此如跳舞般互動，

curvilinear movements -- all specific to play.

全都顯示出他們在玩耍。

And rough-and-tumble play is a great learning medium for all of us.

這類粗魯打鬧的遊戲是我們成長學習的最佳媒介，

Preschool kids, for example, should be allowed to dive, hit, whistle,

例如學齡前的兒童，應該要讓他們衝撞、打鬧、

scream, be chaotic, and develop through that a lot of emotional regulation

尖叫、亂搞，他們才能藉此發展出一些控制情緒的方法，

and a lot of the other social byproducts -- cognitive, emotional and physical --

也才能學到一些社交互動技巧，包含認知、情感及身體上的技巧，

that come as a part of rough and tumble play.

這些都能從粗魯的打鬧中學習而得。

Spectator play, ritual play -- we're involved in some of that.

從旁觀看或是儀式性質的遊戲--我們也參與過這些活動，

Those of you who are from Boston know that this was the moment -- rare --

從波士頓來的人就會知道這件事，雖然不常發生--

where the Red Sox won the World Series.

那是紅襪隊贏得世界盃的一刻。

But take a look at the face and the body language of everybody

看看那些群眾的臉孔和他們的肢體動作，

in this fuzzy picture, and you can get a sense that they're all at play.

雖然照片有點模糊，但你還是感覺得到他們在玩。

Imaginative play.

想像式的玩耍。

I love this picture because my daughter, who's now almost 40, is in this picture,

我很喜歡這張照片，因為我的女兒也在照片裡，她現在快40歲了，

but it reminds me of her storytelling and her imagination,

但只要看到這張照片，就會讓我想到她說的故事和她的想像力，

her ability to spin yarns at this age -- preschool.

她在學齡前就已經有能力虛構故事了。

A really important part of being a player

要成為一個遊戲高手，

is imaginative solo play.

就要能運用想像力獨自玩耍。

And I love this one, because it's also what we're about.

我很喜歡這個，因為這是關於我們自己的遊戲，

We all have an internal narrative that's our own inner story.

我們在內心裡都有自己的故事，

The unit of intelligibility of most of our brains is the story.

人類大腦裡負責理解的區塊掌管的大部分都是故事。

I'm telling you a story today about play.

我來說一個有關玩耍的故事，

Well, this bushman, I think, is talking about the fish that got away that was that long,

有個山裡來的人，正在對大家說他差點就釣到一條那麼長的魚，

but it's a fundamental part of the play scene.

這就是玩耍的最基本元素。

So what does play do for the brain?

那麼玩耍對我們的大腦有什麼好處？

Well, a lot.

嗯，有很多好處。

We don't know a whole lot about what it does for the human brain,

但我們對玩耍為大腦帶來的好處所知並不多，

because funding has not been exactly heavy for research on play.

因為還沒有足夠的經費投入這方面的研究。

I walked into the Carnegie asking for a grant.

當我走進卡內基請求給予經費時，

They'd given me a large grant when I was an academician

如果我以研究酒罪駕車的學者名義申請經費的話，

for the study of felony drunken drivers, and I thought I had a pretty good track record,

將會得到許多補助，因為我以往的名聲不錯。

and by the time I had spent half an hour talking about play,

但如果我花上一個半小時對他們解說玩耍的重要性，

it was obvious that they were not -- did not feel that play was serious.

很顯然一毛也拿不到，因為他們不覺得玩有什麼重要。

I think that -- that's a few years back -- I think that wave is past,

那是好幾年前的狀況，我認為這種想法已經過時了，

and the play wave is cresting,

現在玩耍才是最熱門的議題，

because there is some good science.

因為有些不錯的科學研究已經證實了這件事。

Nothing lights up the brain like play.

玩耍對腦部的刺激是其他活動所比不上的，

Three-dimensional play fires up the cerebellum,

三度空間的玩耍可以刺激小腦活動，

puts a lot of impulses into the frontal lobe --

也會對前額葉產生許多刺激，

the executive portion -- helps contextual memory be developed,

也就是腦部負責解決問題的區塊，可以幫助我們發展情境記憶，

and -- and, and, and.

還有...還有...

So it's -- for me, its been an extremely nourishing scholarly adventure

對我來說，這是一趟很有價值的學術之旅，

to look at the neuroscience that's associated with play, and to bring together people

讓我接觸到有關玩耍方面的神經科學，

who in their individual disciplines hadn't really thought of it that way.

也讓人們瞭解玩耍這件事和他們從小的觀念不同。

And that's part of what the National Institute for Play is all about.

這就是國家玩耍中心成立的部分宗旨，

And this is one of the ways you can study play --

這裡有許多研究玩耍的方法，

is to get a 256-lead electroencephalogram.

其中之一是用256條導線測量腦波。

I'm sorry I don't have a playful-looking subject, but it allows mobility,

很抱歉沒能給各位一個更好玩的講題，但我可以調整，

which has limited the actual study of play.

就來講講我們的實地研究吧。

And we've got a mother-infant play scenario

我們先前看過母親逗弄嬰孩的圖片，

that we're hoping to complete underway at the moment.

我們現在就來解釋剩餘的部分。

The reason I put this here is also to queue up

這麼做的原因是要整理我的思緒，

my thoughts about objectifying what play does.

好讓我能以更具體的方式來解釋玩耍這件事。

The animal world has objectified it.

動物間的互動很具體，

In the animal world, if you take rats,

在動物世界裡，如果你把一隻老鼠

who are hardwired to play at a certain period of their juvenile years

從幼年時期起就讓它玩耍一段時間，

and you suppress play -- they squeak, they wrestle,

讓他們吱吱亂叫、互相摔角、壓倒對方，

they pin each other, that's part of their play.

這些都算玩耍，然後就禁止他們再玩，

If you stop that behavior on one group that you're experimenting with,

選擇一組實驗組禁止他們玩耍，

and you allow it in another group that you're experimenting with,

讓另一組實驗組繼續玩，

and then you present those rats

接著，把一個充滿貓氣味的項圈

with a cat odor-saturated collar,

拿到這些老鼠面前，

they're hardwired to flee and hide.

他們的天性就是會逃跑躲起來，

Pretty smart -- they don't want to get killed by a cat.

很聰明，因為他們可不想被貓吃掉。

So what happens?

接下來呢？

They both hide out.

二組老鼠都躲起來了，

The non-players never come out --

但被禁止玩耍的老鼠卻都不再出來，

they die.

他們全都死了。

The players slowly explore the environment,

繼續玩耍的老鼠則小心地探索環境，

and begin again to test things out.

然後又開始嚐試探索週邊的事物。

That says to me, at least in rats --

這件事讓我瞭解到，至少老鼠們--

and I think they have the same neurotransmitters that we do

我認為老鼠和人類的神經傳導系統類似，

and a similar cortical architecture --

也有類似的皮質層組織，

that play may be pretty important for our survival.

因此我推論玩耍對人類的生存極為重要。

And, and, and -- there are a lot more animal studies that I could talk about.

還有...我還可以舉出許多其他的動物實驗，

Now, this is a consequence of play deprivation. (Laughter)

這是剝奪玩耍權利的後果。(笑聲)

This took a long time --

我花了很多時間，

I had to get Homer down and put him through the fMRI and the SPECT

我得把荷姆放下來，讓他做核磁共振、斷面成像、

and multiple EEGs, but as a couch potato, his brain has shrunk.

腦波圖等檢驗，但他成天窩在沙發上都不動，腦子已經萎縮了。

And we do know that in domestic animals

就被馴養的動物來說，

and others, when they're play deprived,

我們已經知道當他們的玩耍權利被剝奪之後，

they don't -- and rats also -- they don't develop a brain that is normal.

他們的腦部就不會正常發展，老鼠也是這樣。

Now, the program says that the opposite of play is not work,

這個研究告訴我們，玩耍的相反不是工作，

it's depression.

而是壓抑。

And I think if you think about life without play --

如果各位想像一下沒有玩樂的生活，